Pass the Luck: Before Aaron Carter performed the jive on Tuesday night’s dance-off, Kelly Osbourne ran onto the dance floor, gave him a hug and a good luck charm. “I said, ‘Wear my lucky bracelet.’ I wear my lucky bracelet every week,” she said, pointing to her beaded bracelet. “[My fiancé] Luke [Worrall] made it for me.”

Flip Flop: Mark Dacascos, host of Iron Chef America, says it was a great experience working with his dance partner Lacey Schwimmer on her show. He hopes she will return the favor. “It’s in the works,” says Dacascos about the possibility of Schwimmer being a guest judge. “I just don’t want anything disgusting,” Schwimmer joked, “like animal organs that shouldn’t be taken out of an animal. I would love chocolate or the secret ingredient is sugar!”

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

I found this week very mundane….nothing really got me going except for looking into Derek’s dream scene 🙂 I enjoyed some of the costumes that the celebs got to design…Karina looked HOT, Anna D. looked STUNNING, and Kelly as always, so ADORABLE 🙂 I thought Kym’s dress was all over the place, mya’s dress didn’t have enough sparkle to it, and Joanna’s had to much fabric….did I really just say that! I thought her nude fabric was to much and wasn’t needed to the extent that it was used. Now to the good, the bad, and the incredibly hot!

THE GOOD
I chose Aaron this week for the good routine because he’s really starting to control himself and when it does he’s just amazing to watch! I could without all the ‘bad ass’ stuff at the end and the tongue sticking out at times but it’s the performance factor for him!

THE BAD
It is getting harder every week to put someone in this position but I’m going to have to go with Mark this week. I’m putting Mark here because I felt like his dance was ALL OVER THE PLACE! You could tell that he so badly wanted to do good for Lacey and to keep up his scores from the week before. However, with everything that happened…it just wasn’t his week 🙁

THE INCREDIBLY HOT
JOANNA!!!!!!! Is it any surprise 🙂 This dance was so amazing and she did it beautifully! I can’t wait until she get’s the first 30 of the season…if she gets all the stumbles worked out!

Tight-Knit Group: As the dancers continue to get eliminated, the group appears to be getting closer. Throughout the night, celebs and professional dancers were always reaching out to each other and giving hugs and pats on the back. Before the dance-off, Michael Irvin, his partner Anna Demidova, Louie Vito and his partner Chelsie Hightower exchanged big hugs with each other. What? No fights? “I thought about it, but this is a family show,” Vito joked.

A Ghoulish Night: Every Tuesday before the show goes live, the dance floor turns into a dance party for the guests of the show. Since Halloween is days away and it was the premiere of Michael Jackson’s This Is It, guests learned the steps to “Thriller” and performed it all the way through. Derek Hough, a fan of Jackson and who also performed the famous routine last week for the show’s tribute to the King of Pop, watched on from behind the stage.

Melissa/Mark and Louie/Chelsie with George Pennacchio at the LA Local ABC Affiliate:

I thought Tom Bergeron was GOD before this question he answered for AOL Television, but I really, really HOPE he’s on to something here:

Tom Bergeron, what do you think of the double elimination tonight?
Tom: I think, in all honesty, we learned that you can’t have 16 couples to start a season. We came out of the gate learning some things that I hope you’ll never see again. Having said that, though, I like the way this season is picking up. I think people are coming back. [Viewers] may have thought, “We don’t know who to support here because the body count is so high.”

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Dang, I’m putting my favorite thing first. Our pros dancing to Taylor Swift’s Romeo and Juliet song (yeah, I know that’s not the real name) – dang. DANG!! That was one of the more romantic dances I’ve seen on this show. I love Taylor and I’ve loved this song (ear worm for real) since I first heard it – but she was having an off night and I was wondering if she caught Derek’s swine flu. I can’t rave enough for Cheryl, Tony, Maks, Edyta, Jonathan and Anna. Particularly Jonathan and Anna – they look absolutely gorgeous together. It’s funny – put Jonathan out there by himself and he looks the total dork…but put Anna next to him and they are simply sublime. Lordy. This pro dance made me a bit teary eyed – I am such a sap. But the costumes, the choreography – gads. Perfect. LOVED IT!!!!

I just love these little segments – yes, I am easily entertained sometimes. 🙂 Call me crazy, but I am rooting for the sequined speedo. 🙂 But then, I’ve had a glass of wine and my filter is gone. Seriously, the words “Derek” and “half naked” are words I can get behind. For that matter, I wish Mark and Melissa weren’t eliminated, because I can so see Mark in high heels. 😉 And I fear for Louis – Kelly has an evil streak that I love.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Coming up shortly – clips from the results show and an extremely romantic pro dance to Taylor Swift. Yes, I am a total sap.

The Insiderhas video up on their site that includes MOST of the couples. The accompanying write up was cute:

Samantha Harris may only co-host “Dancing with the Stars,” but that didn’t stop “The Insider” correspondent from suffering an ankle injury.

Not realizing her physical ailment, Derek Hough tried to dance with her. Backstage after the show he apologized. Samantha joked, “I’ve been waiting for eight seasons to have Derek to dance with me. He finally does it while I have a sprained ankle.”

Entertainment Tonight with Derek/Joanna and Melissa/Mark – and Derek gives pointers to one of the correspondents on the Thriller dance:

Maks’ blog gives us some insight into the competitive Mambo and how it works in the ballroom world in his weekly blog with TV Guide – no surprise he goes after the Derek naysayers and echos what I have said. Lots of good stuff in Maks’ blogs and I always enjoy them.

I was unable to watch Monday’s show because I was flying back to L.A. I saw all the performances on video and got a recap of some of the things. I saw a little bit of the mambo marathon, but heard a lot about it. I actually really like the idea. This is something we can explore and try to figure out. I think what people don’t understand is that we come from a competitive ballroom world and this is the format. Having couples dance one at a time, like Dancing does, yes, that’s awesome, but we’re used to everyone being on the floor at the same time dancing against so many other couples. I think Derek killed it with his competitive ability. We’re trying to stand out from the crowd. We have a set a routine, but there are a lot of elements that come up from within the crowd of other couples that you can play off of. I think that’s exactly what he did when he kept dropping Joanna over and over and doing that little lift thing. That’s what people are not used to seeing, but that’s when our true competitive spirit comes out. Couples that can pull it off pull it off.

I also liked the marathon because the judges, for the first time, had to judge couples in comparison to other couples. Whoever is the better dancer, wins. A lot of times, somebody gets a 7 and somebody else gets a 7 and people can’t believe it. A 7 given to someone who did an amazing job for them and a 7 given to somebody who is amazing but could’ve done better is not the same 7. In the marathon format, there was no chance for them to do that. They can’t say, “Hey Michael, you did great for what you did today. You showed improvement,” and “Mya, you should’ve done better because you’re that amazing.” They had to pick people based on how they compared to each other as dancers and not how they compared to themselves.

When you’re in a ballroom event, you start off with hundreds of couples, then you have a number of heats where more than 15 couples dance at the same time. They choose couples out of those heats and then you go to the next round. You have to stand out from the crowd and be in the judges’ memory for many heats until the end. You truly end up with some of the best at the end because they were not only able to showcase their dance ability, but their showmanship and everything else. I think that element was missing from the show. In the competition, if you’re truly great, you can draw audience attention from across the room.

I may not have been the most technical dancer, but what I was is I was a great competitor. I try to teach my students that it is very important to remember it’s 50 percent quality and 50 percent presentation. Then you can dissect presentation into many things, but it’s important to possess or develop, if you don’t have it, star quality. The idea is when you walk out on the floor, you cover the entire stage with your presence. I can go out and just stand, metaphorically speaking, or do something simple while somebody is doing flips all over the place and I can draw your attention to me. This is what we’re trained to do. If you’re better at it, you may have a better chance to win even if others may be better dancers.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Regular readers know that I’m a hypocrite when it comes to paparazzi – I have a philosophical problem with what they do and how they make their living, yet occasionally I will use something they come up with. That said, nobody seems to mind Henry the Pap – he’s too cute and he’s NICE. So, if the celebs don’t mind, I’ll go with it.

Len MAKES this video – hilarious. OMG – cocktails or age? 😉 Little bit of everyone: Chelsie talking with gum in her mouth, Louis and Melissa being cute, Anna D. talking about her hair, Derek holding on to Joanna and his sister Marabeth and helping them across the street, Julianne, Kelly O, Louis, Jonathan and Anna T at the end.

ETA: If anyone is interested in seeing a few pictures from the party, they’re at PureDerekHough.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

I’m not going to post all of them, of course – they can all be found at TV Guides YouTube Page. 🙂 I forgot to mention in my earlier post that there are a few bits that contain more Derek/Joanna and those are posted at PureDerekHough. (Scroll, scroll, I’m not doing multiple links because it’s Friday and I’m having beers.)

Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower! Cuteness cubed.

Here’s what I’m talking about with Mya and Dmitry – she looks at him at first, but then she’s totally apart from him and seems very cool. Everything she says seems very rehearsed. Maybe that’s not the real thing, but it doesn’t translate well. I’m afraid it could mean trouble down the line, when going up against Donny Osmond who, love him or hate him, exudes personality and vitality (and has a HUGE fanbase).

Again – THIS is the Donny Osmond I could get behind on the show. If he could just tone it down and not go all crazy and loud.

This video is titled Melissa Joan Exit – freudian slip? 🙂 I’m sorry, I just don’t like this girl for some reason. Katrina? Don’t watch this one. 🙂

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)